That's Tweet Dude!

I have been really wanting to make some art lately.

So, I painted a board black.

And, I'll let you in on a little secret of mine- "mis-mixed paint"- it is the greatest mistake ever. At the paint desk of most paint stores they have a shelf or two of their mistakes, that they sell for cheap. I am addicted to buying this stuff. Two of my very favorite home colors have come from here. I use them all the time, and sometimes mix my own color from them. By the way this quart of paint was one dollar, count it- 1! I have used this one on about 10 projects, from art to redecorating.

After I painted the board black I was a little stumped by the possibilities and it took me a few days to decide what to make. My friend's sister was fooling with texture on her art blog, I thought that sounded fun. Especially since the board I used already has a great texture. A few paintings ago I played around with mixing joint compound (drywall plaster) with acrylic paint and spreading it on with a palette knife, so I thought I'd do it again.

I collected the necessary objects for the project.

Such as chalk, joint compound, palette knives, paint brushes, acrylic paint, decorative paper, scissors, treats and a few silhouettes from online....

Then I drew the branches on the boards with chalk. after i filled them in with the joint compound, leaving it semi-thick and really rough.

It was hard to keep everything in the lines, so some where fuzzy, or not exactly following the chalk lines, as you can see below. To clean this up, I just outlined the branches with my black paint again.

Then I drew out the outline to size on white card stock. I didn't want to ruin the nice paper on my first attempts at hand drawing birds. Drawing is not my strong suit. After they were cut out, I arranged them on the board.

Then I figured out where I wanted the paper to go.

Finally, I came out with this. I just brushed on a layer of polyurethane to seal it all. Hopefully it works out well. I am planning on hanging it in Etta's room, which I have been working on the last few days, but no pictures til I am done.